Page 206 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2017

• About 26 million adults have CKD.
• The leading cause of CKD is diabetes and high blood pres sure.
• The progression of CKD often can be slowed but many people do not show symptoms until late stages.
• Those 60 and older are most likely to develop it.
• About 430,000 Americans with kidney failure rely on blood- filtering dialysis.
Source: www.freseniuskidneycare.com
HEALTHY LIVING upbeat
A Positive Attitude
story and photos by Susan Ruddiman
“I told him his
life was ju”
st beginning because
For the past 17 years, Jimmy Dyess has undergone hemodialysis three times a week. With his soft voice and outgoing personality, he has become a popular patient at Fresenius Kidney Care’s North Gulfport facility. He doesn’t hesitate to share his wisdom with fellow patients.
“I talk to the new people who come in. One guy was told by his friends, ‘your life is over since you have to be hooked up to a machine,’” Dyess said. “I told him his life was just beginning because he was alive.”
Dyess has positive answers for fellow patients. “I tell them, don’t let nothing stop you. Keep your appointments with the doctors, keep coming here for treatments and you will feel like me,” he said.
And how does Dyess feel? “I’m 67, but inside I feel like I’m 45,” he said. Dyess went into kidney failure in 2000 after dealing with episodes of high blood pressure.
Lynn Vanek, R.N., praised Dyess’ positive attitude. As a kidney care advocate for Fresenius, she counsels people who are dealing with kidney disease. “It is a loss of a body part. A lot of patients get angry, and I don’t blame them,” she said. “But that machine is their friend and is their lifesaver.”
Dyess’ wife of 39 years, Deborah, brings her husband at 5 a.m. to the treatment center. He undergoes hemodialysis for 4 hours, 15 minutes. During the procedure, blood is removed from his body, cleansed and then returned. Once home, he has lunch and then gets in his electric wheelchair to visit with friends in the neighborhood. With five children and 22 grandchildren, the couple sometimes goes to Texas
to visit family. His treatments can be scheduled at centers around the country.
He is such an advocate for kidney health because his brother and nephew died from the disease when they were both age 34.
“I’d like God to give me the strength to go back to work, but people say that God has me doing his work while I’m sitting down,” he said.
Facts about Chronic Kidney Disease:
he was alive.
Jimmy Dyess
206 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • September 2017
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
Jimmy Dyess with his R.N. Lynn Vanek.
Jimmy Dyess is all smiles